Plenty of Reasons Email is as Relevant as Ever

Every now and then, there is a discussion about where email stands as social network use becomes the “it” thing. We’ve all heard mutterings like, “email is dead” and “social media is killing email,” but it’s just not the case, and there are plenty of reasons why.

1. People still send hand-written letters2. Nearly all sites on the web that require registration require an email address3. Email notifies you of updates from all social networks4. We haven’t seen any evidence yet that Google Wave really is the next big thing5. Email is universal, and social networks are not6. There are plenty of people who have no interest in joining social networks, but already use email7. Email is still improving8. Even social networks themselves recognize the importance of email9. More social media use means more email use10. As far as marketing is concerned, email is doing pretty well

At the Online Marketing Summit last week, there was an interesting session about email marketing, led by Joel Book, Director of eMarketing Education for email marketing firm ExactTarget. In that session among other points of discussion, he provided the following concept equations:

Also at the Online Marketing Summit, WebProNews discussed the integration of social media with email, with Kara Trivunovic, Sr. Director of Strategic Services at StrongMail, who makes some great points.

Businesses are plugging in social aspects into email programs to not only expand the reach of their existing offers, but to turn customers into evangelists, and ultimately grow their databases, as she says. Keep in mind that about half of all content is shared through email, and social media can make for a great way to gain subscribers. According to Trivunovic, there are 3 major ways that people integrate social into their email programs:

1. Share with your network

2. Leverage as a medium to incentivize current customer base to evangelize on their behalf, and drive additional subscribers or awareness